Handlebars, how wide is too wide?

Having acquired some 720mm bars I’m wondering if I should cut them before trying them? I normally ride at 680mm wide, I have tried 700 but cut them after one ride, should I persevere & stick it out for a while & see if it changes my world, or do you just know what’s right for you?
Obviously the old rule of “as wide as your shoulders” has long been dead, but at what width do you say it’s too wide?

Cheers.

I’d stick with it for a bit and see how you get on.

When I got back into riding, I went the full hog and got some 780mm Answer bars and they’ve stayed uncut for two years now. They felt a bit odd and first, but now I love them and anything much narrower feels odd.

I went from 680 to 710 to now 800 and I really love the wide feel and confidence at high speed,twitchy on slow speed climbs but would never go back to less.

Thanks, I’ll give it at least one ride & see if I find my hands migrating to the inside of the grips 😉

I’d say 4 metres would be too wide.

I’ve settled 780mm. I find that you don’t notice a revolutionary difference when you go up a little bit in width. It’s when you try to go back to anything narrower that they feel all wrong.

I also have the Answer bars at 780mm and find it spot on. I’m only 5′ 10″ so dont have the ganglest set of arms.

Proper fun when riding the red at swinley. I’m sure that if I went back up a section and actually stood and tried to fit my bars through the gaps between trees I wouldnt ride half as fast through the trees..Best not to know..

In answer to your original post though, 1m 60 would defo be too wide..

how tall are you OP?

Do give them a decent try, I’ve settled on 710/720ish- bought some longer bars, always end up cutting them, I don’t find any benefit to wider ones and some obvious disadvantage. But everyone’s a different shape and got different tastes.

Persevere for a few rides, bear in mind you will need to shorten your stem to get ‘equivalent’ fit. I ride 785mm happily, I’m 5’8″ with pretty wide shoulders for my height. Or put another way, I’m under-tall.

tymblan, I’m 6′, quite proportionate…

Brown hair/eyes, good shit sense of humour etc, you are female right? 😉

740 felt good on my Krampus, then went to 780 on my Dialled Alpine, and that felt weird. Trimmed em down by 25mm each side and they’re spot on. It’s a very personal thing. I’d try it for a rid or two, but be prepared to trim down.

5’8″ with 750mm on my two mtbs. 60mm and 50mm stems, which is the other important part of the equation

love seeing people out riding with super wide bars, chins on the stems, wrists at jaunty angles, handsaw at the ready for any obstructing trees 😆

Never cut a bar before trying

710mm works for me, on an XL frame with 110mm stem,

@2unfit2ride.. sorry bud but no. You riding xc/trails? at 6′ I don’t know why you would want to ride with a bar width of 680mm unless it just tame bridleways etc you’re riding. I think a wider bar enables more leverage which equates to less force being needed to hold the bars straight at high speed when you hit something that tries to pry the bars from your grip.

sorry bud but no. You riding xc/trails? at 6′ I don’t know why you would want to ride with a bar width of 680mm unless it just tame bridleways etc you’re riding I think a wider bar enables more leverage which equates to less force being needed to hold the bars straight at high speed when you hit something that tries to pry the bars from your grip.

Comfort. I’m a few inches over 6′ and wouldn’t go bigger than what I have. I also feel i’m plenty strong enough to turn the bars at speed especially after years of narrower bars.

Yup, and Jason McRoy, Greg Herbold, Jonny T, Missy Giove, Anne-Caroline Chausson, et al. could never ride for toffee with their silly, narrow, 90s bars 🙄 it’s mostly fashion to be honest, you gain some control with wide bars, but anything over 700mm gives diminishing returns IMHO.

When you clip a tree, there too wide. 😀

710mm works for me, on an XL frame with 110mm stem

*shudder*

I liked a comment Andy Barlow made- he likes wide bars but not because of leverage or anything, just because wide hands force you into an aggressive front-wheel-weighted posture. I approve this concept because it led him to sell me a set of barely used 710mm Easton Havens for peanuts.

I’m riding 580mm, flat bars….that’s a niche right there? (and 1.95″ tyres) I feel like the odd kid in the corner 🙁

620mm with bar ends here – any wider and I end up getting caught on trees!

Hey, one of my MTBs has 460mm wide drops on. I’ll sit with you 😆

it’s mostly fashion to be honest, you gain some control with wide bars, but anything over 700mm gives diminishing returns IMHO.

Yep but all those people running sub 700mm bars are just stuck in the past where mountain bikes were based on what people did on roads..

Gone from 740 to 780, feels great – I wish that this had been available earlier.

As said never cut before you try, you can’t stick it back on

Oddly just put Salsa Woodchippers (46cm) on my Disco and the flaired drops I have now bounced off more walls,trees, car wing mirrors in the last two weeks then the entire total previous cycling history.
Am now hoping some sort of cat’s whisker thing occurs.

Put on a set of Renthal Fatbars last year with the intention of cutting them down to size and have just never felt the need to. I have scared myself a few times with trees at Ae but not clipped one yet. I like them. I’m going to keep them as they are.

Doorways are a right pain in the arse though.

Use different width on different bikes, my DH bike is 780mm, my Shan is 740mm and my singlespeed is 700ish

Ive got some 810mm bars. I did clip a tree or two about two years ago, but I dont anymore. You do get used to it. My bars suit me, but are also the same width as my motorcycles. The allow me to weight the front properly.

But its personal, try them for a long time before you cut them.

Anybody gone onto the bigger Jones loops?

Going from 685 to 780 transformed my ride immensely. Ain’t going back, no way!

Did 690 for quite a while, but ended up disliking them on climbs and JRA. Down to 645 with bar ends and it feels a much better compromise for my type of riding (XC / trail).

I definitely think there is an element of willy waving / machismo / fashion with wide bars, the post above may be a good example of that 🙂

Must admit I was very pleased to hear riders complaining that one of the trails used in the innerleithen night/day enduro was “too narrow” 😉

Most of my riding is in woodland so I stuck to 710 bars for fear of clipping the trees.

I just bought a pair of 750 and I love em, the first thing I noticed was a could breath much better as it let my chest open up from the more cramped position I was in ( I had not noticed I was cramped before this but I am fairly wide) and I clipped no trees. I will try wider as soon as funds allow.

Surely you base the width on your shoulders? Too wide and you’re going to start getting pain in them I would of thought.

710mm bars with a 50mm stem. Perfectly fine for me. Each to their own with bar length to be honest.

5’8″ with 780 and 35mm stem. Felt wierd at first but once it gets really nasty, so much more stable feeling.

I run 762 flats have done for few years had 780 but to wise for am stuff I’ve just gone for longer stem 70mm from 50 as nukeproof mega felt cramped

worth factoring in stem lengths for sure, on my 3 bikes I have the following comb’s & I’m very happy 🙂

60mm / 710mm
90mm / 711mm
60mm / 750mm

I’m sure that stem length is very important, just as soon as you have taken the effective reach into account 😉

I want to try the superstar yardstick……